Mercia sells Clear Review for £26m

The acquirer, Advanced Business Software, is a trade buyer based in Datchet, Berkshire.

Mercia held a 4% fully diluted direct holding in Clear Review at the date of sale and will receive cash proceeds of £1m, representing a 2x return on its investment and a 72% IRR. In addition to this direct investment return, the sale will also generate an 8x return on Mercia's EIS-managed fund investment cost and a 122% fund IRR.

Mercia portfolio director Nigel Owens, previously a non-executive director, will step down from the board.

Clear Review is Mercia's fifth full cash exit from the direct investment portfolio, coming three months after the sale of The Native Antigen Company.

Previous funding
The company was first backed by Mercia's managed funds in May 2018 with £500,000.

Clear Review became a direct investment of Marcia's in June 2019. Of the total series-A funding, amounting to £2.6m, AlbionVC invested £1.85m.

Company
Founded in 2015, Clear Review is a cloud-based performance management platform that aims to promote frequent employee feedback and continuous employee-manager conversations. It is based in London. The company generated more than £2m in revenues in 2019.

Advisers
Vendor – Canaccord Genuity (corporate finance); N+1 Singer (corporate finance).

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